About Constance Goddard

Constance Sutton married Sir Piers de Mauley, 6th Lord Mauley, Constable of the Tower of London, son of Sir Piers de Mauley, 5th Lord Mauley and Margaret de Clifford, before 9 October 1371; They had at least 1 daughter (Margaret).2,3,4 Constance Sutton married Sir John Goddard, Escheator & Sheriff of Yorkshire, son of John Goddard and Elizabeth Tattershall, before December 1384; They had 2 sons (Sir John; & Henry) & 3 daughters (Agnes, wife of Sir Brian Stapleton; Maud, wife of Robert Waddesle, Esq; & of Margaret, wife of (Mr.) Ughtred).2,3,4 Constance Sutton married Sir Robert de Hilton, son of Sir Robert de Hilton and Maud de Campania, before 28 August 1395.2,3,4 Constance Sutton died on 9 June 1401.2,3,4

.... Not all his time was spent abroad, however, and by September 1379 he had become friendly with Peter, 4th Lord Mauley, one of the wardens of the east march, for whom he then offered securities as the farmer of certain estates held by the Crown. Mauley died in March 1383, not long before Godard set out for Scotland in the retinue of John of Gaunt, from whom he probably received his knighthood. On his return he was fortunate enough to secure the hand of Mauley’s widow, Constance, whose share of her husband’s estates, together with her own impressive patrimony, brought him considerable wealth and influence. A royal pardon excusing the couple from marrying without first being granted the necessary licence was entered on the patent rolls in December 1384, from which date Sir John’s finances began rapidly and dramatically to improve. It was, indeed, through his wife and her family, the Suttons, that he established himself in a prominent position .... etc.

Son and heir to Sir Peter de Mauley and Margret de Clifford, grandson of Sir Peter de Mauley and Eleanor de Furnival, Sir Robert de Clifford and Maud de Clare.

Second husband of Elizabeth de Meinill, daughter of Sir Nicholas de Meinill and Alice de Roos. Widow of Sir John Darcy, who died March 1356. They had one son, Peter, who married Margery de Sutton.

Secondly, husband of Constance Sutton, daughter of Sir Thomas de Sutton and his wife Agnes. They had one daughter Constance, who allegedly married Robert de Hilton.

In 1372, Sir Peter was indicted for sheltering felons, but was not to be arrested. In 1378, Sir Peter complained that a John Snell and others had broken into his parks at Kilnwick and Lockington, and taken away his game and deer.

Sir Peter died testate and left a will dated 08 March 1382. His widow married Sir John Goddard, and had one son, dying 09 June 1401.

HILTON, Sir Robert (d.c.1431), of Swine and Winestead in Holderness, Yorks.

s. and h. of Sir Robert Hilton (d.c.1400) of Swine and Winestead, by his 1st w. Isabel (d. by 1395); e. bro. of Sir Godfrey*. m. Joan (d.1432), da. of Sir Robert Constable*, 2da. Kntd. by Mar. 1401.1

.... etc.

Notes

1.CCR, 1399-1402, p. 310; CPR, 1399-1401, p. 461; Test. Ebor. ii. 16-17, 23-25, G. Poulson, Holderness, ii. 197-8, states that Sir Robert Hilton the elder was at some point married to a Joan Constable, but he has obviously confused father and son. Sir Robert's first wife was called Isabel (CP25(1)143/145), while his second, whom he married in, or just before, 1395, was Constance, daughter of Thomas, 3rd Lord Sutton, and widow of both Peter, 4th Lord Mauley (d.1383), and Sir John Godard (CPR, 1391-6, pp. 654-5, where her name is mistakenly given as Margaret, hence some of the confusion). Poulson is also wrong in describing Denise and Maud Hilton as the MP's aunts: they were in fact his sisters. It is important to distinguish Hilton from his distant kinsman and namesake, Sir Robert Hilton of Hilton near Wearmouth (c.1386-1448), de jure 6th Lord Hilton. When necessary, contemporaries referred to the latter as 'the younger' (CFR, xiii. 186, 218; CPR, 1408-13, p. 318).